By Your Side
by SpartaLazor
Summary: Post Halo 4 AU. The Didact's attack on Earth decimated the population, and Prometheans control most of Earth. The UNSC has few strongholds left, and those outside the walls are considered lost causes. One Marine, Michelle Collins, and her Sangheili corhort, Getu Selgath, are determined to make it to UNSC lines. They're in for the adventure of a lifetime. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Wassup? It's me, SpartaLazor, with yet another story that I'm posting before I originally planned to. The reason that this is up now is because I'm just feeling a little tired of writing for the same characters for so long. A Chord of Three and A Trainer's Blood Flows Within, I just needed to escape from those for a little while and write this. Also, this is up earlier just to see how well it is recepted.**

**So, happy reading. I hope you like it!**

**Also, new poll on my bio! It's for even moar stories!**

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The world was hell.

Buildings lay in ruins, with the skeletons of cars collecting rust clogging the broken roads. Dead bodies of Marines lay around in the streets, killed by the hardlight weapons of their enemies. Almost all forms of electrical power were offline.

Large, robotic creatures roamed the ruined city, careful to sidestep the boiling hot magma. A different variant of the robots flew around with the larger ones, prepared to give them aid should a battle break out. Smaller, dog-like creature climbed the side of the buildings, getting a better view of their surroundings, hunting for any survivors.

This was the aftermath of the New Pheonix incident. When the Master Chief's plan to destroy the Didact's ship failed, over nine-tenths of Earth had been composed before the Infinity got a lucky shot, hitting the ships power supply, and then UNSC starships had unleashed a wave of nukes upon it.

Just after that happened, Prometheans suddenly began teleporting onto all of the OPDs and starships. The entire fleet was massacred. Earth's communications to the other colonies was cut, leaving any surviving UNSC forces trapped in hell.

There were only three more human-controlled territories on Earth; New York City, London, and Bejing. Everything else was property of the millions of Prometheans. Survivors would almost always die on their way to the UNSC territory, and only one in a thousand would ever actually make it.

Two figures were prone on the roof of a six-story tower, well above the Promethean Knight's sight. "You take the big bastard," one said to the other. "I'll take the flying bastard."

The second figured nodded, lining up the shot on his beam rifle. "We shall do it on the count of three."

"Copy." There was the quiet sound as the first figure pulled the bolt on her SRS back gentlely. She propped it up on the edge of the building, aiming down at the Watcher as it lazily floated around. The crosshairs came to rest on its head. "On three."

"One. Two. Three."

The sharp crack of the SRS silenced the sound of the beam rifle. The Watcher exploded into pieces as the round tore its head off. The Knight recoiled from the particle beam, and jerked around to find its assaultants, only to be nailed by another beam. It's body disentigrated into a shower of orange sparks.

"Nice shot, human," Getu complimented, as he stood up. He swung his rifle onto his back and pulled off his Covenant carbine. "Clean hit."

"Your's weren't that bad yourself," Michelle added, pulling the bolt to eject the spent round. "We should get moving. Those Crawlers will be back to see what all the noise was." She jumped off the edge of the building, and Getu followed.

Normally, this would be suicidal. But since the Prometheans had been fortifying their captured city, there was a pile of concrete slabs, salvaged from various parts of the city, under them, reaching up to the top of the building and it conviently provided access to the ground if you navigated it carefully.

"How far have we come?" Getu asked, staring out into the distance. "We started in that forest."

Michelle shrugged, gracefully landing on an angle block of concrete. "I dunno. Like a couple of miles?"

The two of them were in an Human-Sangheili peace talk when this whole thing started. Of the seventy humans and fifty elites, only ten were left alive. Those had been evacuated by Falcon, and included Them Vadum and Admiral Hood. The rest had been left, just as billions of humans had been left on colonies falling to the Covenant.

Scrowling, Michelle pictured the two sitting back in recliners on a distant planet, drinking martinis. Lucky for them, they were off planet. Sighing, she kicked a bent piece of rebar poking out from a slab of concrete. "From my estimates, since we're on foot, it'll be a month before we hit New York," she told her Sangheili companion. "That is, unless a Falcon comes and gets us."

"Yes, but what would be the odds of that?" Getu replied, as he jumped from a piece of bent steel beam on the third floor directly to the ground. His shields flared up, but they held and absorbed most of the impact.

Michelle jabbed the butt of her rifle in between two pieces of concrete, and used it to help keep her balance as she walked down a sharply angled peice. "Very slim," she admitted, "But I'm hopeful. Anything can happen."

"Indeed," Getu agreed, holding his hand out to her as she slowly manuvered through the giant heap of cracked cement. Michelle yanked her rifle from the pieces when she got to the nice flat slab. Reaching down, she grabbed Getu's hand, and he helped her to the ground.

Swapping her SRS for her DMR, Michelle wordlessly took the lead. Getu followed, tensely gripping his weapon. The two silentley walked along the broken sidewalk of a once busy street, each feeling the morbid loss of the city.

There were posters advertising a circus, an antique car show, and a new pub clinging to the damp walls of fallen buildings. Benches were knocked to the side, telephone booths shattered and ruined. New Pheonix was no longer a beautiful city.

The worst part were the piles of ash and dust. That were once human beings.

Michelle let out a sigh as she crouched down and ran her gloved fingers through a pile of ash that had a child's teddy bear laying next to it. "From dust you shall come, and to dust you shall return," she muttered, rubbing the ash between her fingers.

Her brain somehow refused to admit that this was once a human. It bascially defied all she had been taught in school. But, no one really taught Forerunner Weaponry Systems in her high school. Hell, when it came to aliens in high school, her teachers simply refused the exsistance of them, claiming that they were just the UNSC's lies to cover up an Insurrection victory streak.

She silently laughed to herself, remembering how she somehow managed to believe that at one point in time. And now, roughly decade later, she was at a living, breathing, alien's side.

"We must hurry," Getu urged her, as she stood up from the pile. "Those Crawlers are on their way." An inhuman howl echoed through the silenced city, as if punctuating the Sangheili's sentence.

Giving a breif nod, Michelle lead the way. She peered around the corners of buildings to check for enemies, while Getu kept her back covered. They made it over three hundred yards without seeing a single Promethean.

"Something's wrong," Michelle noted, lowering her rifle as she observed an intersection, cars blocking the whole thing up. "There should be some of them. They practically infest this whole city."

"Perhaps they were called into an engagement," Getu suggested, eyes darting from place to place, searching for any sign of movement. "Maybe they're making another push for this New York."

Michelle shook her head. "From what I've heard, it's the most fortified place on Earth now. Some scientists even found a way to jam the Knights' teleportation." She paused, biting her lower lip as she thought of a plan. "I'm going to make a run for one of those cars," she informed Getu. "Keep me covered."

Nodding, Getu switched back to his beam rifle. "Which one?"

"That truck," she replied, pointing at a green 2534 Ford F150. "You can ride in the back since you won't fit in the cab."

"Great," Getu muttered. "Just go, and keep your head down."

Michelle made a mad dash for the truck, not heeding his words. She tossed her DMR through the open window, and tested the door handle. Fortunately, it was unlocked. She yanked it open, and brushed the pile of ash out of the driver's seat. Climbing in, she motioned for Getu to follow.

The alien bounded across the cracked asphalt road, and jumped into the back of the truck. "I'm ready when you're ready," he told her, as he adjusted his legs to get comfortable. It was hard, since his legs were at an odd angle, and the only postion he felt right in was crouching.

The engine sputtered to life, and Michelle floored it. She wanted to get out of this damn hell hole as fast as she could. Soon, they were roaring down the roads.

"Human, this will attract attention," Getu told her, stating the blatantly obvious. "The Prometheans will be able to find us."

"No matter," Michelle called over the engine. "We can out run them in this."

Getu sighed. She was always like this, thinking that they could do something but failing in that. He readied his Storm Rifle, knowing that this was going to end horribly.

Sure enough, the demonic screech of the Crawlers rang out, and the silver creatures ran out from behind a building, unleashing waves of hardlight into the truck. Getu took aim at one, and fired as they passed by it.

"That went to hell fast!" Michelle shouted, swerving to splatter a Crawler. "Hold on tight!"

The Sangheili was pumping plasma into the the Crawlers chasing them, who were doing a good job at keeping up. The truck had to be going at least seventy miles an hour, and here these Prometheans were just short of the tail gate.

Getu's shields flared as stray round of orange light stuck him. He recoiled slightly from each shot, but soon fired into the mob behind them, wiping out three with headshots.

The back windshield shattered as hardlight pierced it, narrowly missing the back of Michelle's head. "Oh shit!"

At first Getu thought that she was reffering to the near-miss. But as the truck executed a sharp turn, he caught a glimpse of the three Knights running at them, Incineration Cannons firing off shots.

They teleported, and appeared in front of the truck on its new path. "Hell," Michelle cursed. "Hold on to your hat!"

"Why do I need to..." Getu's voice trailed off as he realized that Michelle was accelerating. The Knights stood their ground, and fired off three shots from their cannons simutaneously. The red orbs detonated just under the front bumper of the truck, sending it into the air.

When it came down, it rolled over twice, and came to a complete stop. Unsure as to whether there were any survivors, the Knights began closing in on the wreck, with the Crawlers flanking them.


	2. The New Member

_Chapter Two: The New Member_

**Outskirts of New Pheonix, Arizona**  
**October 30, 2557**

Michelle groaned as she woke up, vision blurring. She could make out the burning remains of a truck, and heard the distinctive cracks of a DMR. Sitting. " up, she felt dizzy, and that's when she saw that she was covering in her own blood.

All around her were the silver remains of Promethean Crawlers, and the orange liquid that went in them. Suddenly, a dissolving body of a Knight flew over the remains of the vehicle, and hit the ground several feet from her.

"Getu?" she asked, looking around for her compatriot. Remains of the Forerunner AI's were scattered everywhere, with the occasional small pool of orange liquid here and there.

"Yes?" the Elite replied, walking around the truck, DMR in one hand and activated Energy Sword in the other. "It's about time you got up. I've had to fight these Prometheans off myself."

Standing up, Michelle staggered to the side, but managed to regain her balance, thanks to Getu grabbing hold of her shoulder to keep her from falling.

"You've lost a lot of blood," the Elite said, flicking his wrist to deactivated the sword. "You might be disorientated for a little while." Getu handed her the DMR. "The vehicle's wrecked, and we need to get moving now, before more of the Prometheans arrive."

Michelle nodded, still lightheaded. "We're still outside of New Pheonix, aren't we?" She attached her rifle to the magnetic plates on her back, and started walking down the broken road, Getu following behind her. "We didn't get anywhere with the truck, right?"

Getu shook his head. "The Prometheans sabotaged all of the other vehicles once they saw how we almost escaped. We're going to have to go on foot."

Kicking a silver piece of a Crawler, Michelle looked back at Getu. "How can you species worship these things?" she asked, stumbling a little in the recoil of her kick.

Letting out a breath of irritation, Getu, folded his arms. "It's not all of my speices. Most of the sane ones are on the side of the Sephratists. At least our species have them same religion, not like humans."

"Fair enough," Michelle replied, sensing that she might've hit him with an insulting question. "Are you sure that all of the cars are ruined?"

"Most within the city, but I'm sure that the Knights informed others," Getu answered. "They're probably working on taking out as many as they can." To puncuate the sentence, there was a muffled explosion back in the city.

Michelle threw her hands up in defeat. "I guess we'll have to walk. This will take a while." She took two steps, and then shook her head. "But I'm not walking all the way to New York. That's just not going to happen..." she released a tired breath, even though she hadn't gone very far.

"Perhaps we should find a place to rest," Getu suggested, putting the hilt of his sword back on his hip. "After all, you are wounded," he added, gesturing to the scrapes and cuts covering her body. Dried blood was caked to the armor in several locations.

Michelle shook her head. "I can walk, I can shoot, and I'm fine," she insisted. "Just a little dizzy from loss of blood."

Getu scoffed. "So I noticed. You're stumbling around worse than a drunk on New Year's Day," he told her, falling back on some of his human holiday knowledge. "There." He pointed at a small building just off the highway they were walking on. "We should stop there, and see if we can get any supplies."

Michelle wrinkled her brow in confusion as she saw the sign for the building. "And just what worthy supplies will we find in an Exxon? Gas? I'm sure that such an easy target has already been raided."

"There just might be something worth something in there," Getu replied. "Food, water, maybe something more."

"Yeah, and while we're in there, I'll grab a few lottery tickets," Michelle commented, hefting her DMR into her hands. "Then again, maybe we should grab some booze and some cigarettes. That would be worth it."

The Sangheili sighed. "I forgot how sarcastic you humans can be. I've had to deal with several people like you, mainly during the Unggoy-Human Peace talks. Or rather, it was the humans that were doing the talking; the grunts were just sucking methane."

"And you say humans are sarcastic. That was pretty harsh."

"Harsh, yes. Unrealistic, no. That's almost exactly how it went. I was there."

"I see," Michelle said, side-stepping a pile of ash. She was still trying to comprehend the whole 'Prometheans turn humans into ashes' thing. No one really ever saw that coming. "And just what was an elite doing in the peace talks for grunts?"

Getu clicked his mandibles. "I don't know. Fleetmaster Vadum wanted me to be the one to report what exactly transpired there, so I went."

"Didn't you once tell me that Vadum wanted to kill you?" Michelle asked, rubbing the back of her neck. She was almost able to walk without stumbling again. "He made you fight that Shipmaster a while back?"

"That was back when we were in the Covenant," Getu explained. "I was exiled from the Covenant, and then I had began to take care of you after your pod crashed into the ring, and you were wounded, and all the other Sangheili weren't to happy about that. Especially the Shipmaster. So, he had us hunted down and captured."

"I remember," Michelle muttered, her mind flashing back to the event. They were still walking along the highway, weaving in and out of the myraid of flaming and smoking cars. The gas station was only a few more meters.

The Exxon station hadn't fared all that well in the Promethean take-over. The two 'x's in the sign had fallen off, and were no where to be seen. The glass windows where shattered, and there were holes in the walls where the hardlight from the Forerunner weapons had struck.

"Well, this looks lovely," Michelle commented, opening the door and holding it open for her elite counterpart. "Elites first. You're more likely able to take on any hostiles that will be in here."

The interior of the gas station was even worse than the exterior. Rows of empty shelves lined the walls, and the drink refrigerators in the back were also void of anything that would prove useful. The lights were out, and several shelves were overturned the middle of the room. Back in one corner, there were some crates forming a small barricade.

Meandering over to them, Michelle took a quick look behind the boxes and saw what she figured that she would see. Two piles of ash, each one with a weapon in it. The first had an M6C pistol, whilst the other had a full blown MA5 Assault Rifle. Not the new models, but the good old-fashioned kind that held 60 rounds.

"Well, at least we didn't come up empty handed," the Marine said, taking the pistol and slipping it into a pouch on her hip, and putting the MA5 on her back where the DMR had been. She was holding the M395 in her hands.

Getu was scavenging around in at the counter of the store, hoping to find some food. "There's nothing in here," he finally said, admitting defeat.

"Told ya." Michelle head back over to the bathroom areas. "Check the cash register, and them grab some lottery tickets and we'll make our way out of here."

The bathrooms were in the dark back hall of the Exxon station. The lights above the hall flickered on and off, casting an eerie feeling over the whole scene. Michelle felt tense, whether it was out of fear of the omnious setting or just her imagination, she didn't know.

Then, she heard movement. It sounded like footsteps and then a squeaking door, and it came from the men's restroom. Michelle raised her DMR at the door, and slowly walked forward. "I swore never to go into the men's room," she muttered to herself. "So much for that."

The men's room was almost what she expected. White tile floors and checkered wall tiles. The sinks were built into the walls, and were motion activated. There were three stalls open, and a fourth one close. In each of the open ones, she saw a pile of ash.

Heh. When the Prometheans came, they had been caught with their pants down. Literally.

She kept her rifle steady as she went for the fourth and last stall. The movement definitely came from back there. "Hello?" Michelle called out.

"Who's there?" came the reply.

Michelle breathed a sigh of relief. At least it was a human in there. "I'm with the UNSC," she said. "It's safe to come out."

Slowly, the ugly-green stall door squeaked as it opened, and a man poked his head out. He looked to be roughly in his mid-fifties, with graying hair, and some faint wrinkles on his face. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Positive, sir," Michelle said, lowering her DMR. "We've checked the building, and there's no Prometheans in here. They're all either in the city, or somewhere else."

"That's reassuring," the man said, stepping out of the stall. He was wearing a checkered buisness suit, almost matching the bathrooms walls. "I was afraid that I was going to have to hide there forever." Reaching back into the stall, the man pulled out two breifcases, and held one in each hand. "Well then, take me to your bird."

"What?"

"The evac ship. Pelican, Falcon, I don't even care if it's a Hornet, get me behind human lines," the man ordered. He held one of the briefcases forward. "There's some money in it for you."

"Well..." Michelle started awkwardly. "There's no easy way to put it, but we're going on foot. The UNSC abandoned this place, and left any survivors to fend for themselves. We've lost all communication with them. We're on our own out here."

The man sighed, and looked at the floor. "I guess that means that I'll have to stick with you and whoever you're with," he said, seeming as if his voice was full of regret. "I won't cause any trouble, I promise. Just keep me alive."

Michelle hesitated. They didn't have enough food for a single person, let alone three. She didn't even know how much an elite had to eat, since they were larger than humans. But she couldn't just leave the man here to die.

She stuck her hand out. "Welcome to the Screwed Survivors Club. I'm Michelle Collins. My partner is Getu Sel'gath."

The man set down a breifcase, and shook her hand. "I am Thurston Howell the Third," he said. "I'll try not to hold you back very much."

"You better not," Michelle warned, leading him out of the bathrooms. "Can you shoot?"

"Yes, I can."

"Can you hit a target?"

"Not in the slightest."

Sighing, Michelle reached into her pouch and pulled out the M6C. "I'm giving this to you. Use it only in emergencies, and do not by any means lose it. Someday, that weapon could be our last, and we all would have to depend on it."

"I understand," Howell said, struggling to take the weapon in one hand, forced to set down a breifcase again. He took the pistol and tucked it inside in jacket pocket. "I'll treasure it always."

"You better," Michelle told him. "What's in the cases?" she asked.

"Well, this one, " he held up the one in his left hand, "has my personal items. And this one," he lifted up the one in his right hand, "has my valubles."

"They won't slow you down, will they?" Michelle asked, shifting her DMR. "If they will, they'll have to be left behind."

"They shouldn't."

"Open them," she ordered. "I'll have to judge this myself." Michelle turned back to the main room of the store. "How's it going Getu?"

"Um...There wasn't anything in the cash register," he replied. "And I have no idea what a lottery ticket is."

"I'll get them in a minute," she told him. Howell had set the cases down on a small counter, and flipped the latches. The first one contained a pillow, a small blanket, and a teddy bear. The other contained...holy shit, that was a lot of money.

"All that is mine," Howell said proudly. "I earned it all with my own two hands. I couldn't simply leave it behind."

Michelle sighed and weighed each of the cases in her hand, all the while eyeing the stash of money in the one case. "Well," she said, setting them down. "I guess it's not too heavy. You can take them. But at the first moment we need to, you're going to ditch them."

"Fine," Howell agreed. "Although I have to keep Teddy with me. I can't sleep without him."

Walking out to meet Getu at the store's counter, Michelle rolled her eyes. Great, some psycho that had a teddy bear. Great. She snatched a lotto ticket from the case on the counter. "Let's go," she ordered. "We need to find some food and shelter."

_**A**/**N: A free, virtual cookie to whomever knows where I got the character Thurston Howell the Third from. And no, don't just go Google it, cheaters.**_


End file.
